Toroidal coil winding machine



Sept. 10, 1968 R. A. M INTOSH ETAL 9 3 TOROIDAL COIL WINDING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 21, 1966 RALPH AMQINTOSH JOSEPH D HORNLW LEON J. YARRWH FIG.

INVENTORS ATTORN EY Sept. 10, 1968 R. A. M INTOSH ETAL 3,400,394

TOROIDAL COIL WINDING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 21, 1966 NQI RALPH AMCINTOSH JOSEPH D.HORNAK RALPH J. YARRISH INVENTORS ATTORN EY OSH ETAL 3,400,894

TOROIDAL COIL WINDING MACHINE Filed March 21, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 1 1 "I q WM C r lllllllfll mlll. 7 96 2 n? me :h'mm mn'm d9 RALPH A. MCINTOSH l9 l8 INVEh ITORS :15 mfg a 4 5 ATTORNEY sept- 0, 1968 R. A. MCINTOSH ETAL. 3,400,894

TOROIDAL COIL WINDING MACHINE Filed March 21, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 RALPH A Mcl N'II'OSH JOSEPH D.HORNAK LEON J. YARRISH XNVENTORS KM/4 44a ATTORNEY Sept. 10, 1968 R. A. M INTOSH ETAL 3,400,394

TOROIDAL COIL WINDING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 21, 1966 JOSEPH D HORINAK LEON \J. YARRISH INVENTORS AT'TONEY P 0, 1968 R. A. MCINTOSH ETAL 3,400,894

TOROIDAL COIL WINDING MACHINE Filed March 21, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 RALPH A.MclNTOSH JOSEPH DHGRNAK LEO N J. YARRISH INVENTORS ATTORNEY United States Patent ice 3,400,894 TOROIDAL COIL WINDING MACHINE Ralph A. McIntosh, Danbury, Joseph D. Hornak, Bethel,

and Leon J. Yarrish, Danbury, Conn., assignors, by

mesne assignments, to Bertrand J. Labranche, New Milford, Conn.

Filed Mar. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 536,053 8 Claims. (Cl. 242-4) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A toroidal coil winding machine having a base supporting in cooperative juxtaposition a core holder assembly constructed to support and revolve a toroidal core about its own axis and a head assembly constructed to support and rotate about its own axis a ring-shaped, wire-carrying shuttle interlinked with the core, with disengageably retractable roller means movable into rotary supporting and driving engagement with the core and with the shuttle, with a longitudinally and laterally adjustable head indexing mechanism, and with a stripping plunger positioned for retractable extension into the path of wire being wound from the rotating shuttle onto the rotating core.

This invention relates to coil winding machines and particularly to high-speed automatic machines for winding many turns of fine, insulated wire on toroidal cores.

Conventional apparatus for winding toroidal coils has been manufactured in various forms and sizes for many years. In most of these machines, the toroidal core is gripped between three tangential peripheral guide rolls, which may be cylindrical rollers, one or more of which serves as a power-driven capstan roller. A predetermined number of turns of fine winding wire are first wound in a reverse direction about the concavely recessed rim of a ring-shaped shuttle, which is provided with a breakaway, severed portion where it may be resiliently sprung apart to he slipped into and interlinked with the toroidal core, after which the shuttle returns to a closed ring shape in which it is supported by drive pulleys positioned tangentially inside the shuttle. A slider adapted to move slidably along the ring-shaped shuttle serves to retain the wire wound on the shuttle and to guide the wire as itis unwound from the shuttle and delivered progressively to the core to be wound thereon.

, Guide mechanisms for supporting and turning the toroidal core and for supporting and driving the shuttle interlinked therewith in winding relationship must meet exacting standards and requirements of performance. Such drive mechanisms must accommodate cores and shuttles of different sizes, and must drive them smoothly and'with precision. The shuttles are generally driven at high speeds while the cores are rotated slowly as successive turns are wound thereon assuring a smooth, uniform winding of wire along the toroidal core. Gear drive mechanisms are generally employed for turning the toroidal core slowly about its own axis, but the adjustability of such mechanisms to accommodate cores of different sizes often produces extreme lack of precision in such driving mechanisms, resulting in slip and backlash in gear drive trains and inefficient gripping of the toroidal core.

Conventional shuttle-supporting pulleys have been proposed with various modifications to receive and support ring-shaped shuttles of different diameters, but devices employing four sturdily mounted, low friction pulleys, two of which may be radiallynioved inward to receive a shuttle and radially moved outward conveniently by a single actuator to seize and grip the entire periphery of a shuttle have not been available on the market.

3,409,894 Patented Sept. 10, 1968 In addition, conventional coil winding machines have lacked convenient devices for instantaneous manual interrupiion of the winding operation by the operator while the shuttle is decelerating or rotating at high speed.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide machines for winding toroidal cores with many turns of fine wire which are: convenient, economical and will accommodate shuttles of different sizes while providing positive gripping and effective tractiondriving motion for both cores and shuttles.

Another object of the invention is to provide such toroidal coil winding machines in which cores are easily removable and replaceable in a quickly-disengaged coresupporting device which provides positive control of the rotary core movement.

A further object is to provide such toroidal coil winding machines in which ring-shaped shuttles of different sizes are easily mounted and demounted on driving supports which provide firm driving traction and effective control of high speed shuttle rotation.

Another object of the invention is to provide toroidal coil winding machines offering the foregoing advantages which are capable of handling a widely varying range of core sizes and shuttle sizes, and permitting relative position-adjustment of the interlinked core .and shuttle in all directions for optimum winding relationship.

A further object is to provide toroidal coil winding machines equipped with a manual stripping device easily actuated by the operator for instantaneous interruption of the precision, high speed winding operation.

Other and more specific objects will be apparent from the features, elements, combinations and operating procedures disclosed in the following detailed description and shown in the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a high speed automatic toroidal coil winding machine incorporating the features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary left side elevation view of the core and shuttle drive mechanisms incorporated in the machine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary front elevation view of the core and shuttle drive mechanisms shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary right side elevation view of the core drive mechanism shown in FIG- URES 2 and 3;

FIGURES 5 and 6 are similar fragmentary right side elevation views respectively showing the core holding and driving units in engaged and disengaged condition;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary left side elevation view of the shuttle-supporting pulley head assembly of the present invention shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 8 is a front elevation view, partially in section, of the head assembly unit of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a right side elevation view, partially in section of the head assembly unit shown in FIGURES 7 and 8;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the shuttle supporting pulley unit during widening operations, showing the shuttle and the toroidal core supported in rotating interlinked relationship;

FIGURE 11 is a further enlarged fragmentary front elevation view of a pair of friction shoes between which the wire is shown passing in FIGURE 10;

FIGURES 12 and 13 are companion right and left side elevation views showing the facing surfaces of the two shoes shown in FIGURE 11 taken along the lines 1212 and 13-43 of FIGURE 11; and

FIGURE 14 is a top plan view of the pivoted, disengageable, adjustable support frame holding the friction shoes inside the revolving shuttle during winding operations.

The principal subassemblies of the automatic toroidal coil winding machines 16 of the present invention are shown in FIGURE 1. These are mounted on an underlying base plate 17 and include a base housing 18 forming a protective cover for the drive mechanisms of the machine, a core holder assembly 19 protruding upward from the central portion of the base housing 18 and designed to hold and rotate the toroidal core 20 in its wind ing position, and a head assembly 21 projecting upward from the base housing 18 near the core holder assembly 19 and designed to hold a shuttle 22 in position interlinked with the core 20, supplying traction drive for high speed rotation of the shuttle in this position.

The wire storage and feeding subassemblies are also shown in FIGURE 1, including a wire storage reel 23 and a reel cover 24 shown positioned above a dereeler base 26 mounted to the rear of the core holder 19 and head assembly 21. Wire from the storage reel 23 is directed over a feed pulley 27 above reel 23 and through a nearby wire guide 28, both positioned on a supporting arm 29, whence the wire travels forward and downward to a footage wheel 31, a pulley mounted on a shaft protruding from a linear counter 32 adapted to count and indicate the linear feet of wire passing around footage wheel 31 between resettings of the counter 32. The wire then passes to a guide rod assembly 33 which is adjusted to deliver the wire to shuttle 22 for initial winding thereon.

A turn counter 34 is preferably mounted at the rear of base housing 18 beside a pedestal 36 supporting the wire storage reel 23 and the wire feed mechanisms. Turn counter 34 is preferably a solid state electronic system actuated by a sensitive photoelectric cell probe positioned close to shuttle 22, and preferably actuated by the passing wire loop itself during the winding of each separate turn on core 20, to provide a counting pulse delivered through a probe cable 37 directly to turn counter 34. A plurality of electronic digital readout units 38 may perform the function of counter dials across the upper front of turn counter 34 for observation by the operator, showing the numbers of units, tens and hundreds of feet of wire wound on shuttle 22, or of turns of wire wound on core 20 by the device.

Corresponding series of the control thumb wheels 39 are preferably provide-d directly beneath the digital readout units 38 and numbered from zero to nine (9), permitting the operator to dial the number of feet of wire to be unreeled from the storage reel 23 and delivered to shuttle 22 during its initial reverse rotation for winding thereon, and the number of turns of wire to be wound on core during each of a series of winding operations. The footage selection may be performed by the uppermost dial in each of the columns of dials 39 mounted on the face of counter 34.

Successive tiers of dials may be employed to preset the number of revolutions of shuttle 22 corresponding to the number of turns of wire delivered and wound on core 20 in each of the succession of winding operations performed on the same core 20. A final tier of dials 41 may be employed by the operator to preset in counter 34 a number of turns of shuttle 22 at the end of each winding operation during which the high speed rotation of shuttle 22 will be decelerated to a slow speed, allowing closer observation by the operator as the final turns of this winding are applied to the core 20.

Counter 34 thus provides accurate, sensitive control of the winding operation, preset and actuated directly by the exact number of turns applied to the core 20. Through the use of counter 34, the operator may record a series of instructions for winding a particular predetermined number of turns on the core 20 in different winding directions in a plurality of successive winding operations, thus permitting separate windings to be placed on the same core 20 or taps to be arrayed in the desired position as required.

Shuttle drive mechanism An electric motor 46 shown in dashed lines in FIGURE 1 is positioned inside base housing 18, toward the rear of base plate 17 and beneath counter 34. The motor provides the driving torque for the drive mechanisms of core holder assembly 19 and head assembly 21 through a series of timing belts and gears illustrated in FIGURES 2 through 6. As shown in FIGURE 2, a primary drive belt 42 driven by the motor turns an idler sheave 43 which in turn drives a shuttle drive belt 44 engaging a sheave formed in the hub of a handwheel 47 shown in FIGURE 8, rotatably mounted on the left side of the head assembly 21.

The rotatable handwheel 47 is mounted on a journalled shaft 48 of a lower fixed shuttle pulley 49, which is one of a group of four journalled shafts carrying shuttle pulleys including an upper fixed shuttle pulley 51 directly above the shuttle pulley 49, and two eccentrically mounted shuttle pulleys 52 and 53. The axes of these journalled shuttle pulleys form a quadrilateral figure, a substantially square trapezoid as shown in FIGURE 9, and the pulleys are all rotatably positioned in substantially the same vertical plane with their rims being concavely grooved to receive the ring-shaped shuttle 22 in driving frictional engagement, as shown in FIGURES 1, 8 and 9. The shafts of pulleys 49, 51, 52 and 53 are all rotatably journalled in suitable roller bearings in the head assembly 21, and their remote ends are provided with driving sheaves around which a pulley drive belt 54 is tensioned for frictional driving engagement.

As shown in FIGURES 2, 7 and 8, drive belts 42, 44 and 54 transmit the driving torque of the motor 46 to rotate shuttle 22 at high speeds, subject to the operators control and the automatic actuation provided by turn counter 34.

Core drive mechanism Simultaneous driving rotation of the toroidal core 20 is produced by the drive train shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5. In this system, an input drive belt 56 connects motor 46 with a variable speed reducer unit 57 inside base housing 18 by way of a relay belt 58. Belts 56 and 58 are both shown as elastic timing belts in FIGURES 2 and 4. The amount of speed reduction produced by the variable speed reducer 57 is governed by a speed lever 59 which protrudes through a calibrated aperture 61 in the upper control panel surface of base housing 18 (FIGURE 1). Adjustment of speed lever 59 by the operator governs the resulting rotary speed of an output sheave 62 mounted on a rotating output shaft extending from the right hand side of the speed reducer unit 57, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, and joined by an output drive belt 63 in driving engagement with a corresponding drive sheave 64 mounted on a rotatable drive shaft 66 extending laterally from side to side through the front central portion of the base housing 18 as shown in FIGURE 3.

Two alternatively-engageable clutch units in stationary clutch housings 67 and 68 are mounted in the base housing 18, both encircling drive shaft 66 respectively to the left and to the right of the toroidal core 20. The clutch units are electrically interconnected for alternative driving engagement of one of respective output bevel gears 69 and 71 with loose, free-wheeling unimpeded rotation of the other gear. Both gears 69 and 71 are engaged with a bevel drive gear 72 keyed at the lower end of a rotatably journalled upright core drive shaft 73. A pinion 74 is keyed near the middle of shaft 73, and is engaged with a reduction timing gear 76 which is keyed on a worm shaft 77 journalled in the core holder assembly 19 for rotation on an axis substantially parallel to that of the core drive shaft 73, and having formed or keyed thereon a worm 78 engaged with a worm wheel 79 keyed on a journalled reversing shaft 81 connected by an offset universal linkage 82 to a journalled limit shaft 83 which has keyed thereon a contact disk 84 having peripheral slots 86 formed therein. Adjustable contact pins or ground pins 87 may be adjustably secured at various angular positions around the slotted periphery of contact disk 84. At predetermined angular rotated positions of limit shaft 83, the ground pins 87 arrive in grounding electrical contact or mechanical engagement with a limit switch 88, providing automatic shutoff or automatic reversing of the direction of rotation of core 20 by reversing the engagement condition of the clutches in clutch housings 67 and 68, for example.

Contact disk 84 thus provides core-reversal governed by angular orientation of the core 20; turn counter 34 provides core reversal governed by the exact number of turns already applied to core 20.

As shown in FIGURE 5, the core drive shaft 73 is surmounted by a central gear 89 at its upper end which is in driving engagement with two gears 91, each keyed on the lower end of a mount shaft 92 journalled in an up right sleeve portion 93 of an L-shaped mount arm 94. As shown in FIGURES 1, 5 and 10, the two mount arms 94 are mounted flanking the core 20 with their sleeve portions 93 mov ably secured for angular adjustment in the top of core holder assembly 19. Sleeve portions 93 of mount arms 94 are secured in their desired angular orientation by a clamping bar 1123 drawn forward vise fashion by a threaded shaft surmounted by a clamping knob 124 on the front of the pedestal of core holder 19, thus clamping the sleeve portions 93 of mount arms 94 in any predetermined angular position. The mount arms 94 are thus angularly adjustable about the axis of their mount shafts 92, permitting opening or closing adjustment of the axes of the two drive rollers 98 carried by mount arms 94, permitting these rollers to be spread apart to accommodate a toroidal core 20 of larger diameter.

Each mount arm is provided with a cantilevered drive arm 96 formed as a hollow casing in which a train of drive gears are journalled for driving rotation of a roller shaft 97 protruding upward from the drive arm 96 and supporting a drive roller 98 thereon. For example, as shown in FIGURE 5, the gear train of five gears is journalled inside the hollow drive arm 96 of mount arm 94, connecting drive roller 98 in driving engagement with mount shaft 92 driven by core-drive shaft 73 through gear 89 and gears 91.

The drive rollers 98 together with an idler roller 99 are positioned to seize the toroidal core 20 at spaced points about its periphery, preferably with their axes forming a substantially equilateral triangle. Rotation of drive rollers 98 by the gear drive train described above produces rotation of the core 20 by external peripheral frictional engagement of the drive rollers 98 with the rim of the core 20. The core may be rotated in a clockwise or in a counterclockwise direction determined by the selection of the forward or reverse start buttons 101 and 102 mounted on the lower righthand corner of the upper surface of base housing 1 8 shown in FIGURE 1, alternatively engaging clutch 67 or clutch 68.

Disengageable, positive idler support mounting The idler roller 99 is rotatably mounted on a post 103 extending upward from an idler support arm 104 protruding rearwardly cantilever-fashion from a transverse idler rod 106 having downwardly extending legs 107 whose lower ends are pivotally joined at pivot pins 119 to the base of the core holder assembly 19, forming a Ushaped pivoted idler frame 108. The idler support arm 104 is preferably forked, as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6, to form two opposed clamping portions straddling the idler rod 106, which are drawn together by a clamping screw 109 to clamp the arm 104 on rod 106.

Conventional idler mounting structures may resemble the idler frame 108 with its component structural features, but they are customarily biased toward the core 20 by a tension spring which is placed in its position of greatest extension by full retraction of the idler roller, and when the idler roller is moved toward core 20 for gripping engagement, such extension springs are often shortened by such movement, to such an extent that they provide very little biasing force urging the idler roller into gripping contact with the rim of core 20.

The idler mounting frame 108 of the present invention overcomes this deficiency by incorporating compressive biasing units 111 shown in their engaged and retracted positions respectively in FIGURES 5 and 6-. Units 111 are preferably mounted one on each side of frame 108, and each comprises two telescoping members urged into their telescoped, engaged mode by a helical coil compression spring 112. The two telescoping members are a clamping rod 113 pivotally joined to a sliding clamping block 114- each slidably mounted for clamping engagement at any selected position along a leg 107 of the idler frame 108.

The opposite end of each clamping rod 113 extends through a suitable aperture in a protruding ledge 116 extending laterally from an elongated L-shaped member 117 whose opposite end is pivoted at a pivot point 118 to the pedestal base of core holder assembly 19. The extreme end of rod 113 is threaded to receive an adjustment nut and washer, and the compression spring coil 112 is installed around rod 113 between the compression nut and washer to be compressed against ledge 116 of L-shaped member 117. The compression spring 112 thus urges rod 113 telescopingly forward through the aperture in ledge 116 to reduce the effective length of the unit 113417, resiliently drawing idler frame 108 pivotally to the rear about its lower pivot point 119' to urge idler roller 99 firmly toward the rim of toroidal core 20, thus gripping the core firmly between the roller 99 and the two drive rollers 98.

Clamping block 114 is disengageably clamped in any selected position along rod 107 by turning a clamping knob 121. On release of knob 121, block 114 may slide along rod 107 to permit pivoting withdrawal of idler roller 99 in its mounting frame 108 by pivoting retraction about pivot point 119, as shown in FIGURE 6. A twist of clamping knob 121 will then hold the frame 108 in a retraction position shown in FIGURE 6 while a new toroidal core 20 is being inserted, after which the knob 121 may be adjusted as frame 108 is again swung toward core 20 to the position shown in FIGURE 5 and clamping knob 121 may be secured to anchor clamping block 114 at a high point on rod 107, as shown in FIGURE 5. By adjusting the nut on the threaded end of rod 113, compression spring 112 may be compressed to apply the desired resilient force urging idler roller 99 firmly into rim-gripping contact with toroidal core 20.

As indicated in FIGURES 1, 4 and 5, the core holder assembly 19 with its positively biased and easily disengageable idler frame 108 is firmly and positively secured in position by threaded machine screws 122 anchoring a base flange of the core holder pedestal directly to the base housing 18, and thus securing the pivoting idler frame 108 and the core holder pedestal with the drive trains of gears and mount arms 94 positioning drive rollers 98 in firm positive orientation, minimizing slip or backlash in the drive gear train shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 under base housing 18.

Maneuverable head assembly In contrast to the core holder 19 which is firmly anchored in fixed position at the front of the base housing 18, the head assembly 21 may be repositioned and maneuvered freely in different directions to accommodate interlinked cores 20 and shuttles 22 of many difierent shapes and sizes.

The head assembly 21 provides firm clamping support for shuttle 22 combined with positive high speed frictional driving engagement to rotate shuttle 22 rapidly for fast loading of wire thereon and for winding the wire from shuttle 22 onto core 20. The free maneuverability of head assembly 21 is achieved without reducing these performance characteristics. Furthermore, the maneuverability of head assembly 21 isolates the core-shuttle relative position adjustments from the stationary core holder assembly 19 as described above, thus assuring firm positive support and driving positioning of the core during the winding operation, and producing tight, smooth, uniform windings.

Vertical adjustment The head assembly 21 supporting the rotatable shafts of the four shuttle pulleys 49, 51, 52 and 53 and their associated components described below is a generally rectangular head block 126, preferably formed with a plurality of transverse slots 127 spanning its lower surface at spaced intervals (FIGURE 9). An upwardly facing U-shaped head guide 128 encloses the lower slotted portion of the head block 126 and is secured to a downwardly protruding stem block 129 adjustably clamped at any vertically selected position between the two halves of a split carriage block 131, which are drawn together by clamping screws 132 to anchor the stem block 129 securely in any vertically adjusted position selected by the operator.

Coarse longitudinal positions Transversely spanning the U-shaped portion of head guide 128 are two or more position rods 133 spaced apart at a predetermined distance. Two or more pairs of the slots 127 formed in the lower edge of the head block 126 are spaced apart at the corresponding distance, permitting head block 126 to be mounted on head guide 123 and forwardly or rearwardly positioned at any station determined by a pair of slots 127 engaged with the transverse rods 133. Two or more selected positions of the head block 126 may thus be provided, without reducing the firm anchored support of the head block 126.

Fine longitudinal adjustment The lower portion of carriage block 131 is provided with three large parallel longitudinal guide holes, the outermost two of which are positioned for free forward and rearward longitudinal sliding movement along guide rods 134 spanning a U-shaped longitudinal frame 136. The parallel central hole formed in the lower portion of carriage block 131 is provided at each end with forcefitted threaded bushings 137 in threaded engagement with a threaded feed-screw type indexing shaft 138 journalled for rotation in frame 136 and provided with an offset universal link 139 (FIGURES 2 and 9) drivingly connecting it to the shaft of an indexing knob 141 protruding from the front of base housing 18 (FIGURE 1) and journalled for manual rotary positioning. When the operator turns indexing knob 141, the link 139 and indexing shaft 138 are correspondingly rotated, producing forward or rearward longitudinal movement of head assembly 21 on carriage block 131 by virtue of the threaded engagement of bushings 137 with the threaded indexing shaft 138 spanning the longitudinal frame 136.

Lateral adjustment Similar manual adjustment and lateral positioning of the head assembly 21 is provided by means of three parallel lateral holes formed in flanges protruding downward from the under side of longitudinal frame 136. The outermost of these holes, as shown in FIGURES 8 and 9, are positioned for sliding engagement on guide rods 142 anchored in stationary position extending laterally beneath the head assembly 21, while the central hole is provided with threaded bushing 143 in threaded engagement with a lateral threaded indexing shaft 144 extending to the left from base housing 18 and terminated by a manual lateral indexing knob 146. By turning the knob 146, the operator may easily maneuver the head assembly 21 either to the left or right for convenient lateral positioning of shuttle 22 in the precise desired location relative to the core 21] held in stationary core holder assembly 19.

By virtue .of the foregoing adjustments of the split clamping portion of carriage block 131, lateral indexing knob 146 and longitudinal indexing knob 141, threedimensional positioning of the head assembly 21 is achieved with precision and convenience.

Shuttle supporting pulleys The structural features cooperating to support and drive the shuttle 22 are shown in the FIGURES 7, 8 and 9. The four shuttle pulleys 49, 51,- 52 and 53 mounted and held by set screws at the right-end of their shafts are placed in the common plane inwhich they support and rotate the ring-shaped shuttle 22. Each of the shuttle pulley shafts is rotatably mounted for low friction rotation in a bearing unit 147 which may be a standard commercial roller bearing secured by a set screw in a suitable bearing aperture in the head block 126. One such roller bearing unit 147 is shown in the cutaway sectional portion of FIGURE 8, mounting the shaft of pulley 52 for rotation the-rein.

As shown in FIGURES 8 and 9, however, the bearing apertures for the bearings supporting the shafts of the rear pulleys 52 and 53 are formed in eccentric sleeves 148 and 149 which are mounted for rotary adjustment in apertures formed in the block 126. Gear-toothed flanges protrude radially from the sleeves 148 and 149 close to the righthand face of head block 126. Mounted for rotation on a stud shaft protruding from the head block 126 is an adjusting gear 151 having its teeth meshed in engagement with the teeth on the flange of the upper eccentric sleeve 148. Also mounted for corresponding rotation on a second stud shaft similarly journalled in head block 126 is an idler gear 152 having its teeth engaged with those of adjusting gear 151 and also with those of the flange on eccentric sleeve 149. The sleeves 148 and 149 and the gears 151 and 152 thus form a gear train whose axes of rotation are parallel and substantially located at the apices of a trapezoid.

A square or hexagonal cranking stud 153 protrudes from the face of adjusting gear 151 to permit this gear to be rotated by a removable wrench or crank, producing corresponding counter rotation of sleeves 148 and 149, and thus swinging their eccentric apertures to move the axes of the shafts on which shuttle pulleys 52 and 53 are supported, producing either inward or outward radial adjustment of these pulleys to increase or reduce the outward pressure producing frictional engagement of the pulleys with the internal face of the ring-shaped shuttle 22. Suitable set screws (not shown) anchor eccentric sleeves 148 and 149 in each adjusted position.

The four pulleys supporting shuttle 22 in the devices of this invention, two of which are radially adjustable by means of their eccentric mountings and controlled together by automatic cranking movement via cranking stud 153 on the single adjusting gear 151, provide firm steady four point support for the shuttle 22 while permitting the operator to make any adjustment for wear of shuttle 22 and for any differences in size tolerances or resilience between shuttles of different manufacture.

Shuttle opening lever A rocking and pivoting shuttle opening lever 157 is installed on the top of head assembly 21, mounted for angular movement about a mounting stud 158 (FIGURE 9) which is itself pivoted for rocking movement about a lateral axis on a lateral pivot pin 159 secured in a handle bracket 161 bolted to head block 126. Set screw 162 protruding upward from the base of bracket 161 through a clearance space toward the lower end of stud 158 may be adjusted to limit the amount of angular rocking movement stud 158 can make about its pivot pin 159. Handle 157 is freely movable for horizontal angular pivoting movement about the substantially vertical stud 158 and is retained against an underlying shoulder thereon by the compressive force of a helical spring 164 sandwiched between the handle and a hollow end cap 163 held on the upper end of stud 158 by a set screw. The handle and the .end cap are both provided wtih apertures to receive the outturned ends of the helical compression spring 164 which provides torsional biasing force urging the handle clockwise as viewed from above head assembly .21, swinging it to the left as viewed in FIGURES 7 and 8 against a lateral stop screw 166 adjustably positioned in an upstanding flange of the handle bracket 161. Adjustably anchored to the handle .157 at a point above the uppermost central region of shuttle 22 is a depending L-shaped lifter 167 terminating in a protruding lift pin 168. As indicated in FIGURES 8 and 9, the lift pin 168 is normally positioned to the left of shuttle 22 in the normal, retracted position of handle 157 produced by the action of the helical torsion-compression spring 164 urging the handle 157 against stop screw 166. When the torque supplied by spring 164 is manually counteracted by the operators moving the handle 157 counterclockwise to the right about stud 158, lift pin 168 is moved thereby between pulleys 51 and 52 inside the upper rim of shuttle 22, which has already been maneuvered by turning the hand wheel 47 to bring its severed break-away gap into a convenient position near lif-t pin 168. The operator can then rock the handle 157 upward and toward the right rear, pivoting stud 158 about its pivot pin 159 until it comes into contact with the stop screw 162 with lift pin 1 68 resiliently deforming the shuttle to lift the rear upper portion thereof away from shuttle pulley 52 by opening the gap in the shuttle, permitting it to be maneuvered by hand to remove it from the shuttle pulleys for adjustment or replacement as desired.

Tension shoe assembly FIGURES and 14 illustrate the core and shuttle 22 in interlocked winding operation, showing the manner in which wire is guided from the external rim groove of the shuttle 22 by a frictional slider 169, thence passing between a pair of tension shoes to be wound around toroidal core 20 with every revolution of shuttle 22. The slider169 is designed for :frictional sliding engagement with the shuttle 22, allowing it to be moved around the shuttle as wire is drawn therefrom and wound on core 20.

During the rotation of shuttle 22, the slider 169 passes through the core and moves down away from the core 20 past pulleys 49 and 53, drawing wire from shuttle 22 past the movable slider 169. As the shuttle continues its rotation, bringing slide 169 upward and moving it toward the upper .side of toroidal core 20 over pulleys 52 and 51, the resulting loop 171 in the wire would droop and the previous windings of core 20 would loosen unless tension were maintained on the loop 171.

For this purpose a pair of resiliently biased tension shoes 172 and 173 are positioned facing each other and flanking the plane of rotation of shuttle 22. The left shoe 172 is anchored to a fixed shoe arm 174 forming the left portion of a shoe supporting frame 176 best shown in the top plan view of FIGURE 14. A tension arm 177 is pivotally mounted by means of a pivot pin 178 at the outer end of a T-block 179, and held in the closed position shown in FIGURES 10 and 14 by a latch 180. The other end of T-block 179 anchors the shoe arm 174, and the T-block has a" depending support stem 181 incorporating three lateral transverse holes, two of which form slides'for guiding lateral movement of the T-block 179, the third of which is threaded to receive a shoe-adjusting thumb screw 182 whose remote end is captively secured for unthreaded rotation in a Z-bracket 183 firmly enchored to the head block 126 by such means as the anchor bolt 184 holding the Z-bracket 183 engaged in a shallow alignment groove 186formed in the right face of the head block 126.

x As shown in FIGURE 14, the right shoe 173 may be formed with a pile o'r plush fabric face to provide yielding frictionalengagement with the passing loop of wire 171 traveling between the two shoes 172 and 173 with each rotation of shuttle 22. The rear or entrance ends of the shoes 172 and 173 are preferably beveled to provide a converging portal (FIGURE 14) into which the wire loop 171 easily finds its way as shuttle 22 revolves.

As shown in FIGURES 12 and 13, the facing surfaces of the shoes 172 and 173 are preferably provided with a cooperating pair of apertures or recesses facing each other within which the elements of a wire counting probe or transducer system may be mounted. For example as shown in FIGURE 12, a sensor 187 may be mounted in a suitable aperture near the rear end of shoe 172, positioned by a set screw, and cooperating with a corresponding facing aperture on the adjacent surface of right shoe 173 (FIGURE 13). In one form of the device, for example, a suitable minatnre photocell may be mounted in shoe 172, with a lamp being mounted in shoe 173 for cooperation therewith, the beam of light from the lamp falling on the photocell and being interrupted by the passing wire loop 171, thus providing the turn-counting pulses or signals conveyed by probe cable 37 tothe turn counter 34.

To provide adjustable resilient biasing of right shoe 173 toward left shoe 172, as shown in FIGURE 14, the right shoe 173 is preferably mounted on a pair of laterally extending posts 188 slidingly protruding through suitable apertures in tension arm 177 and retained therein by end flanges or other suitable means for lateral sliding play of shoe 173 relative to shoe 172. Resilient biasing of shoe 173 is provided in this embodiment of the invention by a leaf spring 189 arched from the right face of shoe 173 toward the facing surface of tension arm 177. Adjustment of biasing force supplied by the spring 189 may be made by such means as the tension screw 191 threaded through arm 177 into lateral engagement with the archer central portion of leaf spring 189 to urge the same toward shoe 173, thus increasing the biasing force supplied by spring 189.

Wire-stripping plunger In order to interrupt the winding operation during rotation or deceleration of shuttle 22, permitting the extraction of a terminal lead from the winding being applied to core 20, a resiliently biased manual stripping plunger 192 laterally slidable in an aperture in arm 177 and captive therein is positioned for plunger-type movement toward the plane of rotation of shuttle 22. Plunger 192 is provided with an enlarged captive stripper head 193 at the inner end of the plunger 192 preventing its withdrawal through arm 177, and the outer end of the plunger 192 is provided with a manual plunger knob 194. A helical compression spring surrounding plunger 192 is sandwiched between knob 194 and arm 177, biasing the stripper plunger outwardly to the right away from shuttle 22 in its normally retracted position.

When the operator pushes knob 194 inward to the left toward shuttle 22, the stripper head 193 of plunger 192 moves into the path of wire loop 171 interrupting and catching around itself the next turn of wire loop 171 produced by continuing rotation of shuttle 22. Further rotation of the shuttle then winds the wire not merely around core 20, but rather in a long extended loop stretching from core 20 past shoes 172 and 173 around the stripper head 193 of the stripper plunger 192. During shuttle deceleration several enlarged stripped turns of wire 171 may be formed in this manner, and when the shuttle rotation has stopped, the operator may easily sever these loops to remove them from the machine, automatically producing a terminal lead from the winding on core 20 and a fresh end of wire leading from the wire storage groove on the outer rim of shuttle 22 which may be used to begin the next segment of winding on core 20.

The winding machines of the present invention thus provide firm positive gripping support for each core 20, with positively controlled rotary driving of the core during the winding operation, whose extent is governed either by the angular rotation of the core itself or by the exact number of turns wound thereon. The sturdily-biased idler roller 99 contributes significantly to the firm, positive driving support of core 20. The three-dimensional adjustability of the head assembly 21 provides excellent relative positioning of shuttle 22 and core 20, and the dual eccentric pulleys 52 and 53 adjusted by cranking stud 153 on the common adjusting gear 151 cooperate with the shuttle opening lever 157 to provide maximum convenience in mounting, tightening, driving, releasing and replacing the shuttle 22. Wire stripping plunger 194 further adds to the convenience of the machines by facilitating the drawing of leads in a rapid, accessible manner.

While the objects of the invention are efficiently achieved by the preferred forms of the invention described in the foregoing specification, the invention also includes changes and variations falling within and between the definitions of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a toroidal coil winding machine having a base supporting in cooperative juxtaposition a core holder assembly constructed to support and revolve a toroidal core substantially about its own axis and a head assembly constructed to support and rotate substantially about its own axis a ring-shaped wire-carrying shuttle interlinked with the core, the combination of (A) power-driven drive roller means incorporated in the core holder assembly and positioned for frictional driving engagement with a toroidal core,

(B) retractable idler roller means movable between an engaged position, in which the toroidal core is gripped between the idler roller means and the drive roller means, and a disengaged position in which the core is freely removable,

(C) an idler mounting frame movably joined to the core holder assembly and positioned to support and move the idler roller means between its engaged and disengaged positions,

(D) said idler mounting frame, incorporating telescoping extensible biasing means including (1) an anchored member secured to the core holder assembly,

(2) a clamping member slidably telescoped with the anchored member and joined to the idler mounting frame by releasable clamping means,

(3) and resilient biasing means urging the clamping member into telescoped engagement with the anchored member.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the idler mounting frame and the biasing means are both pivotally joined to the core holder assembly, with the releasable clam-ping means joining them being slidable to maintain them joined together in both the engaged and disengaged positions of the idler roller means.

3. In a toroidal coil winding machine having a base supporting in cooperative juxtaposition a core holder assembly constructed to support and revolve a toroidal core substantially about its own axis and a head assembly constructed to support and rotate substantially about its own axis a ring-shaped wire-carrying shuttle interlinked with the core, the combination of (A) a core holder pedestal fixedly anchoring the core holder assembly to the base,

(B) a head indexing mechanism adjustably anchoring the head assembly to the base, and including 1) longitudinal indexing means providing a longitudinally adjustable threaded connection between the base and the head assembly, and

(2) lateral indexing means providing a laterally adjustable threaded connection between the base and the head assembly.

4. The combination defined in claim 3 including separate manual adjustment knobs, respectively, connected to change the relative longitudinal and lateral positioning of the base and the head assembly by inde- 12 pendently varying the longitudinal and lateral threaded connections therebetween.

5. The combination defined in claim 3 including a third, vertically adjustable connection between the base and the head assembly.

6. In a toroidal coil winding machine having a base supporting in cooperative juxtaposition a core holder assembly constructed to support and revolve a toroidal core substantially about its own axis and a head assembly constructed to support and rotate substantially about its own axis a ring-shaped wire-carrying shuttle interlinked with the core, the combination of:

(A) a head block surmounting the head assembly,

(B) four shuttle-supporting pulleys,

(C) means mounting said pulleys for internal tangential driving engagement with the ring-shaped shuttle,

(1) said mounting means including four parallel power driven shafts each supported by the head block for rotation about one of four parallel axes intersecting the plane of the ring-shaped shuttle at four points forming a substantially symmetrical trapezoid,

(2) said mounting means further including bearing means rotatably supporting two adjacent shafts of the four in eccentric sleeves rotatably mounted in the head block,

(3) said mounting means further including common eccentric adjustment means incorporated in the head block and connected to move both eccentric sleeves for simultaneous adjustment to vary the shape of the trapezoid,

(D) a shuttle-opening lever having a shuttle-engaging lift pin protruding therefrom, and means movably connecting the lever to the head block for movement between a shuttle-expanding position, in which the life pin applies lifting force to an upper internal point of the shuttle, and a retracted position toward which the lever is normally biased by resilient retraction means, in which the lift pin is withdrawn from engagement with the shuttle,

(E) and a positioning mechanism connecting the head block to the base including a vertically adjustable connection, a longitudinally adjustable threaded connection and a laterally adjustable threaded connection, whereby the position of the shuttle relative to the core may be adjusted in three different directions.

7. In a toroidal coil winding machine having a base supporting in cooperative juxtaposition a core holder assembly constructed to support and revolve a toroidal core substantially about its own axis and a head assembly constructed to support and rotate substantially about its own axis a ring-shaped wire-carrying shuttle interlinked with the core, the combination of (A) a frame positioned near the shuttles axis and near the plane of rotation of the shuttle,

(B) a stripping plunger movably supported by the frame for movement from a retracted position, in which it is withdrawn from the shuttles plane of rotation, to a stripping position, in which it protrudes through the shuttles plane of rotation within the ring-shaped shuttle,

(C) and biasing means normally retaining the stripping plunger in its retracted position,

whereby movement of the stripping plunger to its stripping position produces automatic winding of successive turns of wire about the core and the plunger.

8. The combination defined in claim 6, further ineluding (D) a core holder pedestal fixedly anchored to the base and having power-driven drive roller means extending therefrom, retractable idler roller means extending therefrom, and disengageable resilient biasing means secured to the core holder pedestal and 13 normally engaged to urge the idler roller means into frictional engagement gripping the core between the idler roller means and the drive roller means, with the resilient biasing means being disengageable from the idler roller means to permit its retraction during 5 replacement of the core, (E) and a stripping plunger movably supported on the base near the shuttle for movement from a normal retracted position, withdrawn from the plane of the through the shuttles plane of rotation within the shuttle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS shuttles rotation, to a stripping position, protruding 10 BILLY S, TAYLOR, Primary Examiner 

